Tocqueville, Covenant, and the Democratic Revolution: Harmonizing Earth with Heaven

Abstract

Tocqueville, Covenant, and the Democratic Revolution: Harmonizing Earth with Heaven. By Barbara Allen. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005. 400p. 25.95 paper.This book is a remarkably original effort to develop a fresh understanding and appreciation of Tocqueville's “new science of politics.” The covenant or “federal” theology of the New England Puritans is Barbara Allen's point of departure, and she strongly reminds readers that it also served as the point of departure for Tocqueville's analysis of America, in particular, and of democratic society, in general. Allen argues that Tocqueville's new political science is essentially a prescription for a democratic society in which political culture reflects the beliefs, values, and behaviors of covenantal religion. Her thesis is that Tocqueville's vision of a healthy democratic society is fundamentally a portrait of a society grounded in the Protestant covenant tradition.